Adaptive display compression for wireless transmission of rendered pixel data

ABSTRACT

A system employs adaptive data rate reduction of rendered pixel data for wireless transmission between a source device and a display device. The source device determines the display properties of the display device and the current available bandwidth of a wireless channel connecting the source device to the display device. The source device adjusts a data rate reduction process that is applied to the rendered pixel data before the resulting pixel data is wirelessly transmitted based on these parameters. In response to a change in the data rate reduction process, the source device further can transmit to the display device an indicator that identifies the current data rate reduction type and effective compression ratio being applied by the source device. The display device can use this indicator to configure the processing of the rendered pixel data at the display device so as to mirror or otherwise comply with the particular data rate reduction process applied by the source device.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, andmore particularly to wireless transmission of display informationbetween information handling systems.

BACKGROUND

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option is an information handling system. An information handlingsystem generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicatesinformation or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Becausetechnology and information handling needs and requirements can varybetween different applications, information handling systems can alsovary regarding what information is handled, how the information ishandled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, andhow quickly and efficiently the information can be processed, stored, orcommunicated. The variations in information handling systems allow forinformation handling systems to be general or configured for a specificuser or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airlinereservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. Inaddition, information handling systems can include a variety of hardwareand software components that can be configured to process, store, andcommunicate information and can include one or more computer systems,data storage systems, and networking systems. One area of focus is thedevelopment of components that facilitate the wireless transmission ofinformation between information handling systems, and particularly thewireless transmission of display data between information handlingsystems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,elements illustrated in the Figures have not necessarily been drawn toscale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements areexaggerated relative to other elements. Embodiments incorporatingteachings of the present disclosure are shown and described with respectto the drawings presented herein, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for wirelessly transmitting rendered pixeldata between a source device and a display device in accordance with atleast one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method of operation of the source deviceof the system of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method of operation of the display deviceof the system of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an information handling system for implementation ineither of the source device or the display device of FIG. 1 inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The following description in combination with the Figures is provided toassist in understanding the teachings disclosed herein. The followingdiscussion will focus on specific implementations and embodiments of theteachings. This focus is provided to assist in describing the teachingsand should not be interpreted as a limitation on the scope orapplicability of the teachings. However, other teachings can certainlybe utilized in this application. The teachings can also be utilized inother applications and with several different types of architecturessuch as distributed computing architectures, client/serverarchitectures, or middleware server architectures and associatedcomponents.

For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system caninclude any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operableto compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate,switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, orutilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business,scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, aninformation handling system can be a personal computer, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a consumer electronic device, a cellular phone,or any other suitable device, and can vary in size, shape, performance,functionality, and price. The information handling system can includememory, one or more processing resources such as a central processingunit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic. Additional componentsof the information handling system can include one or more storagedevices, one or more communications ports for communicating withexternal devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, suchas a keyboard, a mouse, and a display. The information handling systemcan also include one or more buses operable to transmit communicationsbetween the various hardware components.

FIGS. 1-4 illustrate example techniques for adaptive data rate reductionof rendered pixel data wirelessly transmitted between a source deviceand a display device. In at least one embodiment, the source devicedetermines the display properties of the display device, such as thenative resolution and the frame refresh rate of the display device, andthe current available bandwidth of the wireless channel connecting thesource device to the display device. The source device adjusts a datarate reduction process that is applied to the rendered pixel data beforethe resulting pixel data is wirelessly transmitted based on theseparameters. The data rate reduction process can include one or both of acompression process or a rate adaptation process, as well as otherprocesses used to adapt the bandwidth of the pixel data to theproperties of the wireless link. In the event that the availablebandwidth is at least equal to the bandwidth necessary to transmit therendered pixel data in an unreduced form, the source device can bypassthe data rate reduction process. Otherwise, when the available bandwidthis insufficient for transmission of the rendered pixel data in unreducedform, the source device can adjust the data rate reduction processapplied to the rendered pixel data before transmission so as to complywith the current available bandwidth. This adjustment can include achange in the type of compression/rate adaptation applied, a change inthe effective compression ratio, as well as adjustments to otherprocesses used to adapt the bandwidth of the display data. In responseto a change in the data rate reduction process, the source devicefurther can transmit to the display device a protocol identifier (ID)that identifies the relevant parameters of the current data ratereduction process being applied by the source device. The display devicecan use this protocol identifier to configure its processing of therendered pixel data before the resulting pixel data is displayed so asto mirror or otherwise comply with the particular data rate reductionprocess applied by the source device. As this adaptive data ratereduction technique occurs subsequent to the rendering of encodeddisplay data into corresponding rendered pixel data and further may besubsequent to any formatting of the rendered pixel data into aparticular transmission standard (such as a format compatible with theDisplayPort standard), the adaptive data rate reduction technique may betransparent to the display decoding and formatting components and thusmay be implemented in conventional display systems initially configuredfor wire-based transmission of rendered pixel data between the sourcedevice and the display device, such as in conventional systemsconfigured to communicate via a cable compatible with a DisplayPortstandard, a Digital Video Interface (DVI) standard, a High DefinitionMultimedia Interface (HDMI) standard, a Universal Serial Bus (USB)standard, and the like.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for processing encoded display data fordisplay in accordance with at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The system 100 includes a source device 102 and a displaydevice 104. The source device 102 can include, for example, a personalcomputer (such as a desktop computer or notebook computer), a digitalvideo recorder (DVR), a set-top box, a digital versatile disc (DVD)player, a video-enabled cellular phone, or a PDA. The display device 104can include, for example, a computer display panel, a televisionmonitor, a portable device display panel, or a wireless projector.

The video source device 102 includes a graphics processor 106, a framebuffer 108, a data reduction module 110, an encryption module 112, adisplay interface (IF) 114, a wireless IF 116, and a transmissioncontroller 118. The graphics processor 106 is operable to access encodeddisplay data 120 from a data store, such as a hard drive, removablestorage medium, or a network source. The encoded display data 120 caninclude, for example, video data encoded in accordance with at least oneof a Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) standard, a QuickTimestandard, a Macromedia Flash standard, an H.263 or H.264 standard, andthe like. The graphics processor 106 processes the encoded display data120 to generate rendered pixel data 122 and stores the rendered pixeldata in the frame buffer 108.

The data reduction module 110 is configured to access rendered pixeldata 122 from the frame buffer 108 as a stream of rendered pixel data,and to apply a data rate reduction process to the rendered pixel data soas to generate reduced pixel data 124 (as a corresponding stream ofdata). In one embodiment, the particular parameters of the data ratereduction process are configured based on reduction control data 126received from the transmission controller 118. To illustrate, in theevent that the data rate reduction process incorporates a compressionprocess, one or both of the degree of compression (that is, thecompression ratio) or the compression type of the compression processcan be configured by the reduction control data 126. Further, dependingon the reduction control data 126, the data rate reduction processapplied by the data reduction module 110 can be configured such that therendered pixel data 122 is not compressed or rate adapted. That is, thereduction control data 126 can configure the data reduction module 110so as to bypass application of a data rate reduction process to therendered pixel data 122. For ease of discussion, reference to thereduced pixel data 124 includes reference to pixel data both ininstances whereby the data rate reduction process is applied to therendered pixel data in instances whereby the data rate reduction processis bypassed based on the reduction control data 126 as described ingreater detail herein.

The data rate reduction process applied by the data reduction module 110can include any of a variety of techniques for reducing the amount ofdata representing the pixel information, including run length encoding,discrete cosine transform encoding, entropy encoding, fractal encoding,and the like. The implemented type of data rate reduction process can beadjusted so as to implement any of a variety of effective compressionratios as needed to meet the bandwidth constraints imposed by thewireless channel. To illustrate, in one embodiment, the rendered pixeldata 122 may be pre-formatted into a stream of data packets (also knownas “micro-packets”) in compliance with the DisplayPort standard. In thiscase, the data reduction module 110 can apply a compression process orrate adaptation process to each micro-packet separately such that therendered pixel data 122 is reduced on a packet-by-packet basis. Thecompression process can include, for example, a change in the colorquantization (that is, the number of bits used to represent each pixelor each color of each pixel). To illustrate, the rendered pixel data 122may have an original bit resolution of 30 bits-per-pixel (bpp), and thecompression process applied by the data reduction module 110 may resultin a reduction in the bit resolution to 24 bpp for the resulting reducedpixel data 124. As such, the compression ratio would be 30:24 or 20% forthis example. Similarly, the data rate reduction process can incorporatea rate adaptation process so as to reduce the display data transmissionrate through, for example, run length encoding of groups of similarpixel data or frame rate reduction.

The encryption module 112 is configured to selectively apply anencryption process to the reduced pixel data 124 so as to generateencrypted pixel data 128. In one embodiment, the application of theencryption process is controlled based on encryption control data 130received from the transmission controller 118. For ease of discussion,reference to the encrypted pixel data 128 includes reference to pixeldata encrypted by the encryption module 112 in instances whereby theencryption process is applied to the reduced pixel data 124, as well asreference to the reduced pixel data in instances whereby the encryptionprocess is bypassed based on the encryption control data 130 asdescribed in greater detail herein. The encryption process employed bythe encryption module 112 can include, for example, the encryptionprocess employed in accordance with a High-bandwidth Digital CopyProtection (HDCP) standard or a similar content protection methods.Further, although FIG. 1 illustrates an implementation whereby the datarate reduction process is applied prior to the encryption process, inother implementations the encryption process may be applied first.

The display interface 114, in one embodiment, is compatible with atleast one of a variety of display signaling standards, such as theDisplayPort standard, the HDMI standard, the DVI standard, and the like.The display interface 114 is configured to receive the encrypted pixeldata 128 and format a data stream (not shown) for wireless transmissionvia the wireless interface 116. The data stream includes the encryptedpixel data 128 as well as other control information, such as timinginformation (e.g., frame timing information) and authenticationinformation. Further, as described in greater detail below, the datastream can include protocol IDs 136 in, for example, the form ofDisplayPort Configuration Data (DPCD) messages for DisplayPort-basedimplementations or the form of a Display Data Channel (DDC) message forHDMI-based or DVI-based implementations.

The wireless interface 116 is configured to establish a wireless channel132 (that is, a wireless link) between the source device 102 and thedisplay device 104 and then wirelessly transmit the data stream via thewireless channel 132. The wireless interface 116 can include a radiodevice having a transmission spectrum capable of supporting real-timetransmission of rendered pixel data for direct presentation on a displaydevice. To illustrate, in one embodiment, the wireless interface 116includes a wireless gigabit radio having a transmission spectrumsubstantially centered at 60 gigahertz (that is, operating in the 60 GHzband). In addition to transmitting the data stream to the display device104, the wireless interface 116 further can receive upstream informationfrom the display device, such as an Extended Display Information Data(EDID) message 135 or other similar message that identifies the displayproperties of the display device as described below. Further, in oneembodiment, the wireless interface 116 monitors the wireless channel 132to determine changes in the bandwidth of the wireless channel, as wellas changes in other indicators of the status of the wireless channel,such as changes in the packet drop rate, changes in the latency, and thelike. After each monitoring/sampling period, the wireless interface 116provides to the transmission controller 118 a status indicator value 134that represents the current parameters of the wireless channel 132.

The transmission controller 118 is configured to control the renderingprocess performed by the graphics processor 106 based on the displayproperties of the display device 104. To illustrate, assuming an EDIDmessage 135 or other message from the display device 104 indicates thatthe display device has a display resolution of 1080p (1920×1080 pixels)and a frame rate of 30 Hz, the transmission controller 118 would signalthe graphics processor 106 to render the rendered pixel data 122 so asto have the indicated display resolution of 1080p and the indicatedframe rate of 30 Hz.

The transmission controller 118 also is configured to control the datarate reduction process applied by the data reduction module 110 and tocontrol the encryption process provided by the encryption module 112 viathe reduction control data 126 and the encryption control data 130,respectively. In at least one embodiment, the transmission controller118 dynamically adapts the data rate reduction process in view of thecurrent available bandwidth of the wireless channel 132 so that that thedata stream at least partially resulting from the data rate reductionprocess can be successfully transmitted to the display device 104 giventhe current bandwidth constraints of the wireless channel 132. To thisend, the transmission controller 118 determines the display propertiesof the display device 104 from the EDID message 135 received from thedisplay device via the wireless interface 116. From these displayproperties, which can include the native resolution and the frame rateof the display device 104, the transmission controller 118 determinesthe raw throughput needed to stream the rendered data 122 in real-timevia the wireless channel 132. To illustrate, if the transmissioncontroller 118 identifies the display device 104 as having a displayresolution of 1080p (1920×1080 pixels, or 2,073,600 pixels total perframe), a frame rate of 30 Hz, and a pixel resolution of 24 bits perpixel (bpp), the wireless channel 132 will need a bandwidth ofapproximately 1.5 Gigabits-per-second (Gps) (2,073,600 pixels/frame×30frames/second×24 bits/pixel) to transmit the rendered pixel data 122 inreal-time in an uncompressed format. However, even if the wirelesschannel 132 is capable of nominally providing this bandwidth,interference and other affects typically will cause the actual availablebandwidth of the wireless channel to vary. Accordingly, in oneembodiment, the transmission controller 118 determines the currentavailable bandwidth of the wireless channel 132 based on a statusindicator value 134 periodically provided by the wireless interface 116.Using the current available bandwidth and the throughput requirements ofthe rendered pixel data 122 in uncompressed form, the transmissioncontroller 118 controls the data rate reduction process applied by thedata reduction module 110 such that the resulting reduced pixel data 124is capable of successful transmission by the wireless channel 132 underthe current bandwidth conditions.

The control of the data rate reduction process provided by thetransmission controller 118 can include controlling the degree ofcompression (that is, the compression ratio) or the degree of rateadaptation. To illustrate using the example above, if the wirelesschannel 132 had a current available bandwidth of 1.0 Gps, or two-thirdsof the bandwidth needed to transmit the uncompressed rendered pixel data122, the transmission controller 118 could configure the data reductionmodule 110 to compress or adapt the rendered pixel data 122 by anequivalent compression ratio of 67% (for example, from 24 bpp to 16 bpp)so that the resulting reduced pixel data 124 can be transmitted withinthe current available bandwidth of 1.0 Gps. Conversely, in the eventthat the condition of the wireless channel 132 improves such that thewireless channel has a current available bandwidth of 10 Gps, thetransmission controller 118 can configure the data reduction module 126to disable or bypass application of the data rate reduction process suchthat the rendered pixel data 122 is provided to the encryption module112 in uncompressed form. Further, the control of the data ratereduction process can include changing the type of compression or typeof rate adaptation applied during the data rate reduction process. Toillustrate, the data reduction module 110 may select a differentcompression type based on the percentage change in wireless channelavailability. In instances whereby the entire bandwidth of the wirelesschannel is available for transmission and the resulting bandwidth isadequate for uncompressed transmission of the display data, the datareduction module bypasses application of the data rate reductionprocess. If the available bandwidth of the wireless channel dropsslightly (10%-20% loss for example), then the data reduction module 110may implement a rate adaptation process such as run length encoding,color quantization, or low ratio I-frame only H.264 encoding to shapethe display output transmission. If the available bandwidth of thewireless channel drops significantly (greater than 30% loss forexample), the data reduction module 110 may implement full H.264 mode orselect an alternate compression method that results in a highercompression ratio.

Turning to the display device 104, as illustrated in FIG. 1 the displaydevice includes a wireless interface 140, a display interface 142, adecryption module 144, a data recovery module 146, a display controller148, and a display panel 150. The wireless interface 140 is configuredto receive the data stream transmitted by the source device 102 via thewireless channel 132. The display interface 142 then processes thereceived data stream to obtain encrypted pixel data 168 and any protocolIDs 136 included in the data stream. The encrypted pixel data 168represents the encrypted pixel data 128 included in the data stream atthe source device 102. The protocol IDs 136 are provided to a receptioncontroller 152 and the encrypted pixel data 168 is provided to thedecryption module 144.

The decryption module 144 is configured to selectively apply adecryption process to the encrypted pixel data 168 based on decryptioncontrol data 156 provided by the reception controller 152. In the eventthat the decryption process is to be applied based on the decryptioncontrol data 156, the decryption module 144 applies the decryptionprocess to the encrypted pixel data 168 and outputs the resultingdecrypted pixel data 164 (which represents the reduced pixel data 124generated at the source device 102). In the event that the decryptionprocess is not applied based on the decryption control data 156, thedecryption module 144 bypasses the decryption process and passes theencrypted pixel data 168 as the decrypted pixel data 164. Thus,reference to the decrypted pixel data 164 includes reference todecrypted pixel data in instances whereby the decryption process isapplied, as well as reference to unencrypted pixel data in instanceswhereby the decryption process is bypassed.

The data recovery module 146 is configured to selectively apply a datarecovery process (such as a decompression process) to the decryptedpixel data 164 based on recovery control data 158 provided by thereception controller 152. In the event that the data recovery process isto be applied based on the recovery control data 158, the data recoverymodule 146 applies a selected data recovery process to the decryptedpixel data 164 and provides the resulting data as rendered pixel data162, which represents the rendered pixel data 122 generated at thesource device 102. In certain instances, a compression process appliedby data reduction module 110 may be a lossy compression type and thusthe output of the data recovery module 146 may only be a partialrepresentation of the full amount of data originally in the renderedpixel data 122. In the event that the data recovery process is not to beapplied based on the recovery control data 158, the data recovery module148 bypasses the data recovery process and passes the decrypted pixeldata 164 through as the rendered pixel data 162.

The reception controller 152 is configured to control the selectiveapplication of the decryption process and the data recovery processbased on the protocol IDs 136 received at the display device 104 fromthe source device 102. In response to receiving a protocol ID 136 in thereceived data stream, the reception controller 152 determines whether toenable or disable decryption of the received pixel data based on thereceived protocol ID 136 and whether to enable or disable decompressionof the received pixel data based on the protocol ID 136. To illustrate,a received protocol ID 136 could indicate that the associated pixel datawas encrypted and compressed based on a compression type “A” with acompression ratio of 30%, and thus the reception controller 152 mayformat the decryption control data 156 to direct the decryption module144 to apply the decryption process to the corresponding pixel data andformat the decompression control data 158 to direct the data recoverymodule 146 to apply a decompression process corresponding to thecompression type “A” and the compression ratio of 30% to recover theuncompressed pixel data.

The display controller 148 is configured to receive the rendered pixeldata 162 and to generate control signaling 160 to direct the displaypanel 150 to display the imagery represented by the rendered pixel data.The display panel 150 can include, for example, a light-emitting diode(LED) panel, an organic LED (OLED) panel, a cathode-ray tube (CRT)display, and the like, and the control signaling 160 can be formattedaccordingly.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method 200 of operation of the sourcedevice 102 of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. At block 202, the graphics processor 106 accessesthe display data 120 and processes the display data 120 to generate therendered pixel data 122, which is stored in the frame buffer 108 as therendered pixel data 122 is generated. At block 204, the rendered pixeldata 122 is accessed from the frame buffer 108 and processed fortransmission via the wireless channel 132 as a stream of data. Thisprocessing can include the selective application of a data ratereduction process to the rendered pixel data 122 as directed by thetransmission controller 118 based on the current available bandwidth ofthe wireless channel 118, as well as a selective application of anencryption process to the rendered pixel data 122. At block 206 theprocessed pixel data is transmitted to the display device 104 via thewireless channel 132. Although blocks 202, 204, and 206 are illustratedas separate, sequential blocks, it will be appreciated that theprocesses of blocks 202, 204, and 206 are performed concurrently on astreaming basis.

In parallel with the rendering, processing, and transmission of thepixel data, the transmission controller 118 monitors the conditions ofthe wireless channel 132 so as to adapt the processing of the renderedpixel data to changes in the bandwidth. Accordingly, at block 208 thetransmission controller 118 initially receives an EDID message 135 orother message from the display device 104 and from this messagedetermines the display properties of the display device 104, includingthe native resolution and frame rate of the display device. At block210, the transmission controller 118 receives a status indicator value134 from the wireless interface 116 and from this value identifies thecurrent status of the wireless channel 132, including the currentavailable bandwidth of the wireless channel 132.

At block 212, the transmission controller 118 determines whether anadjustment to the data rate reduction process is appropriate in view ofthe current available bandwidth of the wireless channel. In the eventthat the current data rate reduction settings result in reduced pixeldata that requires a transmission bandwidth suitably matched to thecurrent available bandwidth, no adjustments are needed and thus the flowreturns to block 212 to wait for the next status indicator value 134.Otherwise, at block 214 the transmission controller 118 determines theappropriate adjustments in the data rate reduction process that willmore suitably match the required transmission bandwidth of the resultingcompressed pixel data with the current available bandwidth.

In the event that the current data rate reduction settings result in areduced pixel data that requires a transmission bandwidth greater thanthe current available bandwidth, the transmission controller 118determines one or both of a compression/rate adaptation type or a highereffective compression ratio for the data rate reduction process thatwill further reduce the transmission requirements of the resultingreduced pixel data to a level sufficient to be successfully transmittedby the wireless channel 132 in view of the current available bandwidthof the wireless channel 132. Conversely, in the event that the currentdata rate reduction settings result in reduced pixel data that requiresa transmission bandwidth less than the current available bandwidth, thetransmission controller 118 determines one or both of a compression/rateadaptation type or a lower effective compression ratio for the data ratereduction process that will provide a lower degree of compression inview of the additional bandwidth available in the wireless channel 132.

After determining the appropriate compression settings based on thecurrent available bandwidth, at block 216 the transmission controller118 updates the reduction control data 126 to direct the data reductionmodule 110 to implement these data rate reduction settings. Thetransmission controller 118 also generates a new protocol ID 136 andprovides the protocol ID 136 to the wireless interface 116 fortransmission to the display device 104 so as to notify the displaydevice 104 of the adjusted data rate reduction settings. The process ofblocks 210, 212, 214, and 216 then may be repeated at the nextsampling/monitoring period. Table 1 below illustrates an exampleimplementation of the protocol ID 136 generated by the transmissioncontroller 118:

TABLE 1 Example Implementation of Protocol ID DPCD Address Protocol IDField 00601h (Write) TRANSMISSION MODE 00601h Bit 0 = Display Mode 0 =uncompressed 1 = compressed 00601h Bit 1 = Encryption Mode 0 =unencrypted 1 = encrypted 00602h (Write) COMPRESSION TYPE 00602h Bits 7:0 = Compression ID 000 = Compression Type A 001 = Compression Type B 010= Compression Type C 00603h (Write) COMPRESSION RATIO 00603h Bits 7: 0 =Compression Value 00603h (Read) WIRELESS CHANNEL 00604h Bits 7: 0 =Bandwidth Value 00605h Bits 7: 0 = Channel Attribute

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method 300 of operation of the displaydevice 104 of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. At block 302, the wireless interface 140 receivesthe data stream from the source device 102 via the wireless channel 132and the display interface 142 processes the data stream to obtain therendered pixel data. At block 304, the display device 104 processes therendered pixel data for display. This processing can include theselective application of a decryption process to the rendered pixel dataand a selective application of a data recovery process to the renderedpixel data as directed by the reception controller 152 based on thecurrent data rate reduction/encryption settings of the source device 102as indicated by the most recent protocol ID 136. At block 306 theprocessed pixel data is used by the display controller 148 to generatethe corresponding imagery at the display panel 150. Although blocks 302,304, and 306 are illustrated as separate, sequential blocks, it will beappreciated that the processes of these are performed concurrently on astreaming basis.

In parallel with the processing of the pixel data for display, thereception controller 152 monitors the received data stream to update theprocessing configuration based on newly received protocol IDs 136. Inresponse to receiving a protocol ID 136 from the source device 102 viathe wireless channel 132, at block 308 the reception controller 152determines the compression/rate adaptation and encryption attributes ofthe processing employed by the source device 102 for the correspondingreceived pixel data, including whether the received pixel data wasencrypted and/or reduced, and if reduced, the type and degree ofcompression. At block 310, the reception controller 152 formats thedecryption control data 156 so as to direct the decryption module 144 toapply a decryption process to the received pixel data in the event thatthe protocol ID 136 identifies the received pixel data as encrypted orto bypass application of the decryption process in the event that theprotocol ID 136 identifies the received pixel data as unencrypted. Atblock 312, the reception controller 152 formats the decompressioncontrol data 158 so as to direct the data recovery module 146 to apply aselect data recovery process with a particular degree of decompressionand a particular decompression type to the received pixel data in theevent that the protocol ID 136 identifies the received pixel data ascompressed (and with a corresponding compression type and correspondingcompression ratio) or to avoid application of the data recovery processin the event that the protocol ID 136 identifies the received pixel dataas uncompressed.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example information handlingsystem 400 for implementing either of the source device 102 or thedisplay device 104 in accordance with at least one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In one form, the information handling system 400 canbe a computer system such as a desktop computer or notebook computer. Asshown in FIG. 4, the information handling system 400 can include a firstphysical processor 402 coupled to a first host bus 404 and can furtherinclude additional processors generally designated as n^(th) physicalprocessor 406 coupled to a second host bus 408. The first physicalprocessor 402 can be coupled to a chipset 410 via the first host bus404. Further, the n^(th) physical processor 406 can be coupled to thechipset 410 via the second host bus 408. The chipset 410 can supportmultiple processors and can allow for simultaneous processing ofmultiple processors and support the exchange of information withininformation handling system 400 during multiple processing operations.

According to one aspect, the chipset 410 can be referred to as a memoryhub or a memory controller. For example, the chipset 410 can include anAccelerated Hub Architecture (AHA) that uses a dedicated bus to transferdata between first physical processor 402 and the n^(th) physicalprocessor 406. For example, the chipset 410, including an AHAenabled-chipset, can include a memory controller hub and an input/output(I/O) controller hub. As a memory controller hub, the chipset 410 canfunction to provide access to first physical processor 402 using firstbus 404 and n^(th) physical processor 406 using the second host bus 408.The chipset 410 can also provide a memory interface for accessing memory412 using a memory bus 414. In a particular embodiment, the buses 404,408, and 414 can be individual buses or part of the same bus. Thechipset 410 can also provide bus control and can handle transfersbetween the buses 404, 408, and 414.

The information handling system 400 can also include a display graphicsinterface 422 that can be coupled to the chipset 410 using a third hostbus 424. In one form, the display graphics interface 422 can be anAccelerated Graphics Port (AGP) interface to display content within avideo display unit 426. Other graphics interfaces may also be used. Thedisplay graphics interface 422 can provide a display output 428 to thedisplay unit 426. The display unit 426 can include one or more types ofdisplays such as a flat panel display (FPD) or other type of displaydevice.

The information handling system 400 can also include an I/O interface430 that can be connected via an I/O bus 420 to the chipset 410. The I/Ointerface 430 and I/O bus 420 can include industry standard buses orproprietary buses and respective interfaces or controllers. For example,the I/O bus 420 can also include a Peripheral Component Interconnect(PCI) bus or a high speed PCI-Express bus. Other buses can also beprovided in association with, or independent of, the I/O bus 420including, but not limited to, industry standard buses or proprietarybuses, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Small ComputerSerial Interface (SCSI), Inter-Integrated Circuit (I²C), System PacketInterface (SPI), or Universal Serial buses (USBs).

The information handling system 400 can further include a diskcontroller 432 coupled to the I/O bus 420, and connecting one or moreinternal disk drives such as a hard disk drive (HDD) 434 and an opticaldisk drive (ODD) 436 such as a Read/Write Compact Disk (R/W CD), aRead/Write Digital Video Disk (R/W DVD), a Read/Write mini-Digital VideoDisk (R/W mini-DVD), or other type of optical disk drive.

Although only a few exemplary embodiments have been described in detailabove, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that manymodifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments withoutmaterially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of theembodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all suchmodifications are intended to be included within the scope of theembodiments of the present disclosure as defined in the followingclaims. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to coverthe structures described herein as performing the recited function andnot only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: wirelessly transmittingrendered pixel data from a source device to a display device via awireless channel; monitoring the wireless channel by a wirelessinterface of the source device; dynamically adjusting, at the sourcedevice, a data rate reduction process that is applied to the renderedpixel data prior to transmission from the source device based onparameters of the wireless channel provided by the wireless interface,wherein: the parameters are based upon the monitoring; and thedynamically adjusting the data rate reduction process comprises: if abandwidth of the wireless channel is adequate for uncompressedtransmission of the rendered pixel data, bypassing application of thedata rate reduction process; if the bandwidth of the wireless channeldrops to 10% to 20% below an amount needed for uncompressedtransmission, implementing low ratio I-frame only H.264 encoding; and ifthe bandwidth of the wireless channel drops to 30% or more below anamount needed for uncompressed transmission, implementing full H.264mode or another data rate adaptation process that results in a highcompression ratio; and wirelessly transmitting from the source device tothe display device a protocol ID to describe adjustments to the renderedpixel data, the protocol ID having a data structure comprising: a firstbit to indicate whether the data reduction process has been applied toproduce the rendered pixel data; a second bit to indicate whether anencryption process has been applied to produce the rendered pixel data;a first field to indicate a compression type that has been applied toproduce the rendered pixel data; and a second field to indicate acompression ratio that has been applied to produce the rendered pixeldata.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the datarate reduction process comprises dynamically adjusting the data ratereduction process further based on at least one display property of thedisplay device.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving,at the source device, an indicator of the at least one display propertyfrom the display device via the wireless channel; and determining the atleast one display property from the indicator.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the indicator comprises an Extended Display Identifier Data(EDID) message.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the source devicecomprises a desktop computer.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thedisplay device comprises a computer display panel.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: wirelessly transmitting an indicator fromthe source device to the display device via the wireless channel inresponse to adjusting the data rate reduction process, the indicatoridentifying a resulting adjustment to the data rate reduction process;and dynamically adjusting, at the display device, a data recoveryprocess that is applied to the rendered pixel data prior to display ofthe rendered pixel data at the display device based on the indicator. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the data rate reduction process comprisesa compression process and wherein dynamically adjusting the data ratereduction process comprises increasing a compression ratio of thecompression process in response to a decrease in an available bandwidthof the wireless channel and decreasing the compression ratio of thecompression process in response to an increase in the availablebandwidth.
 9. A source device comprising: a wireless interface toestablish a wireless channel with a display device and to monitor thewireless channel; a graphics processor to generate first rendered pixeldata, wherein the first rendered pixel data is formatted into a streamof micro-packets in compliance with DisplayPort standard; a datareduction module to apply a data reduction process on the first renderedpixel data to generate second rendered pixel data representative of thefirst rendered pixel data; a display interface to provide arepresentation of the second rendered pixel data to the wirelessinterface for wireless communication to the display device via thewireless channel, the representation comprising a protocol ID having adata structure comprising: a first bit to indicate whether the datareduction process has been applied to produce the second rendered pixeldata; a second bit to indicate whether an encryption process has beenapplied to produce the second rendered pixel data; a first field toindicate a compression type that has been applied to produce therendered pixel data; and a second field to indicate a compression ratiothat has been applied to produce the rendered pixel data; and atransmission controller to dynamically adjust a data rate reductionprocess that is applied by the data reduction module to the firstrendered pixel data in generating the second rendered pixel data basedon parameters of the wireless channel provided by the wirelessinterface, the parameters are based upon the monitoring, wherein thedynamically adjusting the data rate reduction process comprises: if abandwidth of the wireless channel is adequate for uncompressedtransmission of the first rendered pixel data, bypassing application ofthe data rate reduction process; if the bandwidth of the wirelesschannel drops to 10% to 20% below an amount needed for uncompressedtransmission, implementing low ratio I-frame only H.264 encoding; and ifthe bandwidth of the wireless channel drops to 30% or more below anamount needed for uncompressed transmission, implementing full H.264mode or another data rate adaptation process that results in a highcompression ratio.
 10. The source device of claim 9, wherein thetransmission controller is to dynamically adjust the data rate reductionprocess further based on at least one display property of the displaydevice.
 11. The source device of claim 10, wherein the transmissioncontroller is to determine the at least one display property based on anindicator of the at least one display property received from the displaydevice via the wireless channel.
 12. The source device of claim 11,wherein the indicator comprises an Extended Display Identifier Data(EDID) message.
 13. The source device of claim 9, wherein the firstrendered pixel data comprises a plurality of data packets and whereinthe data reduction module is configured to separately compress or rateadapt each packet.
 14. The source device of claim 9, wherein thetransmission controller further is to provide an indicator to thewireless interface for communication to the display device in responseto an adjustment to the data rate reduction process, the indicatoridentifying the adjustment to the data rate reduction process.
 15. Thesource device of claim 9, whereby the dynamically adjusting the datareduction process comprises applying the data reduction process to eachmicro-packet of the stream of micro-packets separately.
 16. The sourcedevice of claim 9 further comprising a desktop computer.
 17. A displaydevice comprising: a wireless interface to receive first rendered pixeldata from a source device via a wireless channel; a data recovery moduleto apply a data recovery process and a decryption process to the firstrendered pixel data to generate a second rendered pixel data; a displaypanel to display one or more frames represented by the second renderedpixel data; and a reception controller to receive a protocol IDrepresentative of an adjustment made to a data rate reduction processapplied by the source device to produce the first rendered pixel dataand representative of an encryption process applied by the source deviceand to adjust the data recovery process and the decryption process, bothadjustments based on the protocol ID, wherein the protocol ID has a datastructure comprising: a first bit to indicate whether the data reductionprocess has been applied to produce the first rendered pixel data; asecond bit to indicate whether the encryption process has been appliedto produce the first rendered pixel data; a first field to indicate acompression type that has been applied to produce the first renderedpixel data; and a second field to indicate a compression ratio that hasbeen applied to produce the first rendered pixel data, wherein theadjustment made to the data rate reduction process applied by the sourcedevice comprises: if a bandwidth of the wireless channel is adequate foruncompressed transmission of the first rendered pixel data, bypassingapplication of the data rate reduction process; if the bandwidth of thewireless channel drops to 10% to 20% below an amount needed foruncompressed transmission, implementing low ratio I-frame only H.264encoding; and if the bandwidth of the wireless channel drops to 30% ormore below an amount needed for uncompressed transmission, implementingfull H.264 mode or another data rate adaptation process that results ina high compression ratio.
 18. The display device of claim 17, whereinthe protocol ID comprises a DisplayPort Configuration Data (DPCD) value.19. The display device of claim 17, wherein: the rendered pixel data isformatted into a stream of micro-packets in compliance with theDisplayPort standard; applying the data reduction process comprisesapplying the data reduction process to each micro-packet of the streamof micro-packets separately; and receiving the protocol IDrepresentative of the encryption process applied by the source devicecomprises receiving a protocol ID representative of an encryptionprocess for each micro-packet of the stream of micro-packets separately.20. The display device of claim 17, wherein the first field is 8 bitsand the second field is 8 bits.